The US Army

Photos of US Army, Ft. Bragg, French Morocco, Gen. George S. Patton

We have gathered a collection of some of the best and most moving photos taken of African-American soldiers during the Second World War. They are from the National Archives in Washington D.C.
Please browse at your leisure. Meditate on the sacrifices given by these men and women in wartime.

This page is dedicated to African Americans in the US Army

On parade, the 41st Engineers at Ft. Bragg, NC in color guard ceremony. N.D. 208-NP-4HHH-2. An MP on motorcycle stands ready to answer all calls around his area. Columbus, Georgia. April 13, 1942. Pfc. Victor Tampone. 111-SC-134951.
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A company of men has set up its office between the columns (Doric) of an ancient Greek temple of Neptune, built about 700 B.C. At desk, front to rear: Sgts. James Shellman, Gilbert A. Terry, John W. Phoenix, Curtis A. Richardson, and Leslie B. Wood. In front of desk, front to rear: T/Sgt. Gordon A. Scott, M/Sgt. Walter C. Jackson, Sgt. David D. Jones, and WO Carlyle M. Tucker. Italy. September 22, 1943. 111-SC-181588. Three soldiers of the United States Army sit in place at a radar used by the 90th Coast Artillery in Casablanca, French Morocco. June 19, 1943. 111-SC-223413
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A kitchen was set up along the beach for the labor battalion unloading the boats. This picture shows a couple of the men enjoying a hot meal for a change. Massacre Bay, Attu, Aleutian Islands. May 20, 1943. T/5 Vincent A. Wallace. 111-SC-174129 Negro soldiers draw rations at the camp cook house at their station in Northern Ireland. Detachments of Negro troops were among the latest arrivals with the American forces in Northern Ireland. Ca. August 1942. Acme. 208-AA-46G-1
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American Army Engineer task force in Liberia find themselves in a land from which their ancestors came. Wash day and Pvt. Jack David scrubs out his things on top of a table made from native trees. Ca. July 1942. Fred Morgan. 111-SC-150980-B Negro members of the 477th Antiaircraft Artillery, Air Warning Battalion, study maps in the operations section at Oro Bay, New Guinea. November 15, 1944. Pvt. Edward Grefe. 111-SC-305909
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U.S.-built Army trucks wind along the side of the mountain over the Ledo supply road now open from India into Burma n.d. 208-AA-45L-1 A U.S. Army soldier and a Chinese soldier place the flag of their ally on the front of their jeep just before the first truck convoy in almost three years crossed the China border en route from Ledo, India, to Kunming, China, over the Stilwell road. February 6, 1945. Sgt. John Gutman. 208-AA-338A-1
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Two soldiers gather up their baggage as transportation arrives to take them to their outfit on Guam. Another soldier sits disconsolately awaiting further orders of transportation. August 4, 1945. 208-AA-63HH-1 Troops in Burma stop work briefly to read President Truman's Proclamation of Victory in Europe. May 9, 1945. S/Sgt. Yarnell. 111-SC-262229
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Seeking to rescue a Marine who was drowning in the surf at Iwo Jima, this sextet of Negro soldiers narrowly missed death themselves when their amphibian truck was swamped by heavy seas. From left to right, back row, they are T/5 L. C. Carter, Jr., Private John Bonner, Jr., Staff Sergeant Charles R. Johnson. Standing, from left to right, are T/5 A. B. Randle, T/5 Homer H. Gaines, and Private Willie Tellie. March 11, 1945. S/Sgt. W. H. Feen. 127-N-114329 Negro troops of the 24th Infantry, attached to the Americal Division, wait to advance behind a tank assault on the Japanese, along Empress Augusta Bay on Bougainville. 1944. 111-SC-202491
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Sgt. John C. Clark and S/Sgt. Ford M. Shaw (left to right) clean their rifles in bivouac area alongside the East West Trail, Bougainville. They are members of Co. E, 25th Combat Team, 93rd Division April 4, 1944. Lt. Schuman. 111-SC-364565 Cautiously advancing through the jungle, while on patrol in Japanese territory off the Numa-Numa Trail, this member of the 93rd Infantry Division is among the first Negro foot soldiers to go into action in the South Pacific theater. May 1, 1944. 111-SC-189381-S
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Lt. Gen. George S. Patton, U.S. Third Army commander, pins the Silver Star on Private Ernest A. Jenkins of New York City for his conspicuous gallantry in the liberation of Chateaudun, France October 13, 1944. 208-FS-3489-2. Pvt. Jonathan Hoag, of a chemical battalion, is awarded the Croix de Guerre by General Alphonse Juin, Commanding General of the F.E.C., for courage shown in treatingwounded, even though he, himself, was wounded. Pozzuoli area, Italy. March 21, 1944. Rutberg. 111-SC-188939
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These drivers of the 666th Quartermaster Truck Company, 82nd Airborne Division, who chalked up 20,000 miles each without an accident, since arriving in the European Theater of Operations. Left to right: T/5 Sherman Hughes, T/5 Hudson Murphy, Pfc. Zacariah Gibbs. Ca. May 1945. 208-AA-32P-3 Lt. Gen. Joseph T. McNarney, Deputy Supreme Allied Commander, Mediterranean Theater, inspects Honor Guard of MPs during his tour of the Fifth Army front at the 92nd Division Sector. January 4, 1945. Yaskell. 111-SC-380271.
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Easter morning, T/5 William E. Thomas and Pfc. Joseph Jackson will roll specially prepared eggs on Hitler's lawn. March 10, 1945. 1st Lt. John D. Moore. 111-SC-202330. Members of Battery A, 4520 AA stand by and check their equipment while the convoy takes a break. November 9, 1944. Musae. 111-SC-196212-S.
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Pvt. William A. Reynolds , an ambulance driver exhibits a .50-caliber machine gun bullet which lodged above the windshield of his vehicle when he was strafed by a German plane while driving at the front in France 1944. 208-AA-32P-18. Two smiling French soldiers fill the hands of American soldiers with candy, in Rouffach, France, after the closing of the Colmar pocket. February 5, 1945. Todd. 111-SC-199861-S.
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A platoon of Negro troops surrounds a farm house in a town in France, as they prepare to eliminate a German sniper holding up an advance. Omaha Beachhead, near Vierville-sur-Mer, France. June 10, 1944. Todd. 111-SC-190120. Volunteer combat soldiers prepare for a day's training in preparation for shipment to veteran units at front lines in Germany. February 28, 1945. Edgren. 111-SC-337901.
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Cpl. Carlton Chapman is a machine-gunner in an M-4 tank, attached to a Motor Transport unit near Nancy, France. 761st Mt. Bn. November 5, 1944. Ryan. 111-SC-196106-S. Troops of a field artillery battery emplace a 155mm howitzer in France. They have been following the advance of the infantry and are now setting up this new position. June 28, 1944. Rothenberger. 111-SC-191890-S.
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T/5 Dexter Clayton and M/Sgt. Nelson T. Ewing are tying wire to pole after sag is taken up. France. July 25, 1944. Gallo. 111-SC-191834-S. This mine detector crew is demonstrating what they do before going to work on or around telephone poles in France. Left to right: M/Sgt. Bennie Burns, Sgt. Vincent MacNeill, Sgt. Frank Mack, Pfc. Riggles McCutcheon, T/Sgt. John A. Barbee, and Sgt. Thomas G. Alexander. July 13, 1944. Norton. 111-SC-191360-S.
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Soldiers of the 161st Chemical Smoke Generating Company, U.S. Third Army, move a barrel of oil in preparation to refilling an M-2 smoke generator, which spews forth a heavy cloud of white smoke. These men are engaged in laying a smoke screen to cover bridge building activities across the Saar River near Wallerfangen, Germany. December 11, 1944. Rothenberger. 111-SC-197552. Pvts. George Cofield and Howard J. Davis guard a newly-constructed bridge site over the Rhine River, built by U.S. Ninth Army Engineers. March 30, 1945. T/5 H. R. Weber and Pfc. Sperry. 111-SC-204770.
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Crews of U.S. light tanks stand by awaiting call to clean out scattered Nazi machine gun nests in Coburg, Germany. April 25, 1945. 208-AA-32P-10. Maj. Gen. Edward M. Almond, Commanding General of the 92nd Infantry ('Buffalo') Division in Italy, inspects his troops during a decoration ceremony. Ca. March 1945. 208-AA-47Y-1.
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Members of a Negro mortar company of the 92nd Division pass the ammunition and heave it over at the Germans in an almost endless stream near Massa, Italy. This company is credited with liquidating several machine gun nests ca. November 1944. Acme. 208-AA-47U-6. Tricky Nazi captured. German prisoner wearing civilian clothes, sits in jeep at south gate of walled city of Lucca, Italy, awaiting removal to a rear area. Ca. September 1944. 208-AA-305A-2
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Pfc. Robert Askew with the 3278th Quartermaster Company, examines overshoes which have been turned in. Overshoes proved their worth and helped prevent trench foot during the rains. April 8, 1944. Lapidus. 111-SC-371005. Body of American soldier is borne on stretcher from terrain in vicinity of Malmedy, Belgium, where on or about 17 December 1944, the Germans committed many atrocities. ca. December 1944. Taylor. 153-WC-1-19.
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This Negro combat patrol advanced three miles north of Lucca (furthermost point occupied by American troops) to contact an enemy machine gun nest. Here a bazooka-man cuts loose at the target some 300 yards distant. September 7, 1944. Edwards. 111-SC-194328. Negro 'doughfoots' of the 92nd Infantry ('Buffalo') Division pursue the retreating Germans through the Po Valley. German forces in Italy have since capitulated unconditionally. Ca. May 1945. 208-AA-49E-1-13.
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Genoa, Italy. In this newly liberated city the 92nd Division troops enter the Galleria Guiseppe [sic] Garibaldi. April 27, 1945. Leviton. 111-SC-337144. Capt. Ezekia Smith, 370th Inf. Regt., 92nd Div., receives treatment at the 317th Collecting Station, for shell fragments in face and shoulders suffered near Querceta, Italy. Here, surgeon stitches the wound. Fifth Army, Pietrasanta Area, Italy. February 10, 1945. Bull. 111-SC-236685
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Over 2.5 million African-American men registered for the draft, and black women volunteered in large numbers. While serving in the Army, Army Air Forces, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard, they experienced continuing discrimination and segregation. Despite these impediments, many African-American men and women met the challenge and persevered. They served with distinction, made valuable contributions to the war effort, and earned well-deserved praise and commendations for their struggles and sacrifices.